Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady

In 1808 Ghent, eighteen-year-old Stance resists the narrow future expected of her as a woman. When a wealthy man offers to finance her father’s cannon design in return for marrying her, she initially submits, then follows the example of a woman living as a man and escapes into Napoleon’s army. Others believe Stance is male as she becomes a soldier. Her younger brother Pier, who hopes to continue school, travels with a dubious associate to find her and deliver the cannon plans to Napoleon.